Island



(No Model.)

S. N. SMITH. MACHINE FOR. SETTING LAGING HooKs.

No. 602,881. Patented Apr. 26, 1898-,

UNITED STATES PaTENi1 @Erica STEPHEN N. SMITH, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNION EYELET COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR SETTING LAClNG-HOCS.

SPECIFIGATIN forming* part Of Letters Patelt N0. 602,881, dated. April 26, 1898.

Application filed ITTlll 13, 1898. Serial N0- 595,386| (N0 model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Beit known that l, STEPHEN N. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Setting Lacing-I-Iooks; and I do hereby de'- clare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make andy use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My present invention relates to machines for setting or attaching lacing hooks or studs to boots and shoes,the invention being an improvement on the machine patented September I8, 1894, No. 526,295. In said patented machine for setting lacing-hooks the setting die or spur on which the work or material is placed during the setting operation is moved up and down with respect to the anvil, the latter forming a stud feeding and spacing wheel adapted to be rotated intermittingly. An objection to said patented machine, as well as to other analogous machines having vertically-reciprocating setting-dies, is that its capacity or efficiency is materially lessened owing to the fact that the attendant or operator, even though a skilled one, cannot always properly place the work in position withsuiiicient accuracy upon the moving die when the machine is driven by power at a comparatively slow speed. I would state that in shops or factories devoted to the manufacture of shoes the setting of the lacing hooks or studs is usually done by employees who work by the piece or case. Therefore the amount of their wages is to a great extent dependent upon the rate of speed at which the setting-machines may be successfully operated.

The object .I have in view is to provide machines of the type above referred to with means whereby they may be operated more rapidly and at the same time with greater efficiency, the percentage of imperfect work being reduced to a minimum.

To that end my invention consists, essentially, in the combination, with a stationary setting-die, of a reciprocating plunger provided with an intermittingly-rotating studfeeding wheel, a runway working in unison with the plunger and communicating with a iixed runway, along which the lacing-hooks slide downwardly by gravity, and a mechan ically-actuated separator located in the runway arranged to hold the column of hooks in check and at the same time adapted to separate the bottom hook from the column and deliver it to the feed-wheel, allas will be more fully hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of a machine for setting lacing-hooks and embodying my present improvements, the parts being shown in the normal position preparatory to receiving the work. Fig. 2 is a corresponding front end view. Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse section taken on line w w of Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a partial side view showing the machine in the act of setting a hook. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section, enlarged, taken on line m a; of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is an inverted plan view of the plunger and its attached members. Fig. 7 is a side view of the ratchet-wheel and the upper end of the actuatingepawl, and Fig. S is a perspective view of a lacing hook or stud adapted to be employed in my improved setting-machine.

In the drawings, A indicates my improved machine as a whole, the usual reservoir from which the hooks or studs 7i are fed to the runway being omitted. The runway, as shown, is composed of two flat parallel strips of metal r, mounted in a vertical plane common to both and separated laterally, thereby forming between them a space fr?, the lower end of the runway being .secured to the front side of the upper part of the frame or bed a. The said upper portion of the frame a, is planed out vertically to receive a reciprocating plunger or head c, a front cap or plate a2holding it in position laterally. The lower part or base of the frame is provided with a removable die-holder h', in which latter is fixed the setting-die h. The upper end of the die forms a center or spur adapted to set the tubular shank portion h2 of the hooks in the leather IOO the `runway r.

shown.

pivoted lever m, to whichy is jointed a linkv fm', which in turn is connected with an arm c of the plunger.

power in any well-known manner.

In the lower part of the plunger is mounted a horizontal revoluble shafts, to which latter are secured the feed-wheelt and ratchet-wheel the plunger. The periphery of the feed-wheel t is provided with a series of suitably-shaped recesses or ypockets t', arranged to receive the yheads-of the hooks. The said ratchet-wheel uihas aseries of teeth corresponding in number with the said pockets t. The hook-pawl n for rotating the ratchet-wheel is jointed to a holder u2, having a screw-threaded shank passing through a lug formed on the side of the frame-base. Adjusting-nuts n3 are used for maintaining the proper relation of the pawl to the wheel, so that at each reciprocation of. the plunger the feed-wheel will prei sent a hook centrally over the setting-die. A spring n serves to keep the pawl in continuous yielding contact with the wheel u. To the front side of said wheel-guard or cap cgis secured a strip r' of metal, the same extending upwardly and forming a continuation of The hooks hslide downwardly astride the inner edge of the piece fl, the heads thereof fitting into the pockets t', :and are carried around with the wheel t, as shown in Figs. l, 3, and 5.

maintained in substantially 'the same planel from 'the time vthe hooks are introduced to the provided with a notch e2., adapted to receive? the shank or eyelet portion hz of the hooks.

The said notchis comparatively small andcai pable of receiving only one hook at a time.

The yhead portion or flange of the lever is concentric and .pivotally mounted on a pin passing .through the center of the head, as clearly bythe swinging movements of the separator. This .result is-due tothe fact that the peripheryiof Athe head is concentric tothe pivot on The lever is also Aprovided- -With-an-arm e', having its upper side in con;

which :it -swin gs.

(See Fig. l.) The lever it-z self may be actuated through `the mediurnof the connection m2, adapted to be driven by- The front end of said shaft turns in acap I or wheel-guard c2, secured to and moving with It will be seen that the eyelet or shank portions of t-he hooks extend. `outwardly from the runway and that they are B y meansiof this construction the. `hooks supported thereby are not disturbed' end being arranged tocontact wi th the lower side of the Aarm e when the plunger is elevated. Thus it will be seen that upon depressing the plunger c the pin d automatically swings the lever-head e upwardly until arrested bythe stop-pin s4, thereby bringing the notchedportion e2 into position to receive the lowesthook on the runway, the force of the spring d at the same time holding the entire column of hooks in check, as shown in Fig. 4e. Upon the return or upward stroke the dog f forces the arm in a corresponding directionnntilat the-termination of the plungers movement the notched part of the lever -will be open to the runway-groove r2 below, at which instant the hook drops therefrom by gravity and is caught below in the uncovered pocket or recess Aof the` wheel t. Thus it is seen that the'lever or separator ein is move- `ment detachee the bottom hook from the colfeed-wheel, the periphery of the separator at Vthe same time swinging across the runwaygroove and for the time being closing it. (See Fig. l.) `While the upward movement of the plunger is thus taking place, the stationary pawl n will have rotated the ratchet-wheel one tooth, thereby placing a new hook in position above the die.

In Fig. 3 I have shown Va yielding stop or catchl let into the plunger, the head of the former being adapted to vsuccessively engage the pockets t of the 4feed-wheel. A vspring Z2 insures the action ofthe catch. This device not only serves to `hold thewheel in check while the pl ungeris-making the return stroke, but it also serves Vto steady it, so that the eye- Aleted portion of 1the hooks will be centralized with respect to the spur ortipfof the settingdie.

'In order to maintain the head portion of Vthe hook against thefcorresponding bent part of the runway member fr', contiguous tothe feed-wheel, while lthe hook is being set, and thus forming an anvil, 1the lplunger is yprovided on its lower endswith abentcheck-lever w, a spring fw serving to keep the lever in frictional contact with the hook, all=as clearly .shown in Fig. 6.

In my improved machine the wheel .does not in any manner serve as a-spacing-wheel. It is used for mechanically feeding or transferring the .hooks singly from the .runway to the anvil. The work or material yto which the hooks are to be secured is first suitably "punched, the holes .thus formed being-spaced the desireddistance apart. Nowuponstarting the'machine the attendant simply places the punched portion of the shoe or material upon the center of thefspur-or die b, the latter kat the' same time extending upwardly through the icorresponding hole. VThe action-of the under.

While the plunger is ascending, the

IOO

IIO

wheel is rotated one notch or space, thus automatically bringing anotherhook in position, at the same time releasing the one already set from the anvil, followed by setting another hook, as just described.

By the use of my improvements the machine may be successfully operated at a comparatively rapid rate of speed from the fact that the attendant is enabled to easily and quickly change the work from hole to hole with respect to the non-movable setting-die b.

What I claim as my invention is l. In a machine for setting lacing-hooks, the combination with a fixed setting-die and a stationary runway for the hooks, of a vertically-reciprocatin g plunger provided with a hook-guide forming a continuation of said runway, an intermittingly revoluble feedwheel mounted in the plunger and communicating with the runway, means for actuating said plunger and feed-wheel, and an oscillating separator controlled by the plungers movements for transferring the hooks singly and successively lfrom the runway to the feedwheel, substantially as described.

2. In a machine for setting lacing-hooks, the combination with the xed setting-die b, a stationary die-holder having said die adjustably mounted therein and a stationary runway for the hooks, of the revoluble lhookfeeding wheel t, a horizontal shaft s having said wheel secured thereto, a vertically-reciprocating plunger carrying said shaft and wheel, avertically-movable runway arranged below and communicating with the said stationary runway and forming an anvil with the feed-wheel for resisting the force exerted in setting the hooks, and means substantially as described for intermittingly rotating the feedwheel, substantially as set forth.

3. In a machine for setting lacing-hooks, the combination with the stationary settingdie b and the fixed runway fr, along which the lacing-hooks slide, of the vertically-reciproeating plunger member c provided with an auxiliary lower runway adapted to communicate with and form a continuation of said fixed runway, a revoluble feed-wheel mounted in the lower end of the plunger provided with -a series of peripheral recesses t arranged to -and lower runway member, of the spring-resisted check-lever w pivoted to the plunger for holding the bottom hook in position while it is being set, and the yielding stop or catch l in contact with the feed-wheel, substantially as hereinbefore described.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

STEPHEN N. SMITH.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. REMINGTON, ALEXANDER A. STErHENsoN. 

